President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order on Thursday to initiate the dismantling of the Department of Education
According to two administration officials who spoke to CNN, the move marks the beginning of a key campaign pledge to shift education authority away from the federal government.
The signing is expected to take place at a White House event on Thursday afternoon, where Republican governors, state education officials, and schoolchildren have also been invited, the officials said.
“President Trump’s executive order to expand educational opportunities will empower parents, states, and communities to take control and improve outcomes for all students,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement.
Although shutting down the department entirely would require congressional approval, Trump is expected to direct Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin taking steps to facilitate the closure and devolve education control to the states.
One administration official said the directive would instruct McMahon to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states.”
A senior official clarified that funding for students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Title I funding for low-income schools, and federal student loan payments would not be affected by the executive order.
The development was first reported by USA Today, while CNN had earlier revealed the White House was preparing the order to begin the department’s closure process.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to dismantle the department, describing it as an example of federal overreach and linking it to broader cultural issues. “I told Linda (McMahon), ‘Linda, I hope you do a great job in putting yourself out of a job.’ I want her to put herself out of a job – Education Department,” Trump said in February.
The order also follows recent workforce cuts at the department, which announced earlier this month that nearly 50% of its staff, approximately 1,300 employees, would be laid off, with hundreds more accepting voluntary buyouts.
The plan has sparked strong opposition from unions.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have aimed their wrecking ball at public schools and the futures of the 50 million students in rural, suburban, and urban communities across America, by dismantling public education to pay for tax handouts for billionaires,” National Education Association President Becky Pringle said in a statement.
“If successful, Trump’s continued actions will hurt all students by sending class sizes soaring, cutting job training programs, making higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle-class families, taking away special education services for students with disabilities, and gutting student civil rights protections,” she said.
